The patter of tiny feet . . . . . . on the roof!

Well, here are the twins -  I told you they were mountaineers and explorers!  While there is no real nastiness between the two sets of chickens, Bonny and Peggy do tend to keep out of the way out of Molly and Elvis and usually that is by going upwards.  So, on top of their hen house, balancing on the top rung of the back of the bench outside the caravan, on top of the fence, on a pile of wood . . . . and on the caravan roof!  They started by jumping up onto the water butt, then a short hop up onto the huge oak barrels (which are waiting to be water butts) and then, much to our surprise, up onto the caravan roof where they happily pecked around for a while.  They had no problems getting down - they just flew across to the fence opposite their run.  The rooftop foray is now becoming a regular lunchtime activity.   None of the other chickens have ever really done this sort of thing except the one time I told you about when we'd just got Sid (see 'Two eggs ... now only two chickens').  I guess this is just one of the differences between real chickens and ex-batteries - they have never been stopped from exploring upwards.  As their ancestors and wild cousins roost high up in the trees, it should be natural behaviour.  Just have to remember when one goes missing that we have to look up as well! 

Aswell as going on the caravan roof, Peggy and Bonny seem to have found their way around the place pretty well and, most importantly, know their way back to the run.  So, they are now free to roam around like Elvis and Molly all the time we are around (we do still check on them a bit more often than usual though).  The weather has been pretty yuck the last few days and so it's a bit miserable for them all.  I found the twins sheltering in a half oildrum behind the caravan today, just peering out miserably at the rain - they looked as if they were waiting for a bus!  Yesterday we were just telling our neighbours how reliable Elvis was on the egg front - she hasn't missed a day for weeks.  Guess what?  No egg today!

I've just realised that I haven't put any 'work' photos on here for ages and, after Graham's request for more pictures (see comment on 'The chickens have names'), I will try and remember to take some tomorrow and show you what we've been doing.  It's not very interesting, that's the trouble' but I'll see what I can do.  We have put all the metal studwork up in the padded cell - it looks even more weird now because, as well as the 'padding', it now looks as though it has metal bars all over the walls.  It was quite easy to put up, basically you put a channel along the floor and another along the ceiling and then the I-profile uprights just slot in and slide along to where you want them (the insulation slots between the uprights and you screw the plasterboard onto them too).  This means they don't have to be screwed onto the wall - good idea not to put loads of screws though the plastic bubble-wrap stuff that is suppposed to make the walls waterproof really!  The only complication with this room compared to a normal room is the sloping roof which meant cutting angles on the uprights for the gable end and putting wedges above the top channel so it pointed downwards rather than into the middle of the room along the other walls.  Bob has now started making holes all over the place for cables and pipes - not easy when the walls are 18" thick stone and some of the holes need to be about 6" diameter!  Still, not point in paying the plumber and electrician to do them when we can do them ourselves (now, when I say we . . . . well, it's a bit like digging, I mean Bob).

The plumber came round yesterday to go over final details and he has gone off to order the solar panels and hot water tank.  We also spent yesterday morning at the plumbers merchants (yes, all morning!!!) and have ordered toilets, sinks, bath, taps, etc.  Oh, it's so complicated!  "If you have that sink it has two tap holes . . . . we really wanted a mixer tap . . . . you want a mixer tap - need a different sink then with one tap hole . . . . do you want a pop-up waste or click-clack  . . . . what? what happened to a plug on a chain? . . . ha, ha - haven't done them for ages . . . . . OK, so, click-clack it is then . . . . right, but that mixer tap, it has a pop-up waste . . . . what? it's a tap, what's that got to do with the waste? . . . .  most traditional-style taps come with pop-up waste . . . . so, OK, we'll have a pop-up . . . . shall I cancel the click-clack then?"    and so on for almost three hours!  We should have ordered a shower tray and screen, but we just didn't have the stamina!  Anyway, all that should be delivered on 2 December which is quite exciting.  I've been trying to work out how long it'd take to fill the bath from the kettle?!  Too long is the answer and so I will have to continue to dream about soaking in a deep, hot, bubbly bath with a glass of wine and nothing to do . . . . aahhh, that'll be the day!